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The mere fact that I would even pose the following question should tell you all you need to know about the desperate situation the Buffalo Bills are in regarding the quarterback position, but here goes: If they move on from Tyrod Taylor, is Jay Cutler a viable option as a replacement?

I’ll give you a moment to scream obscenities at your computer screen or iPhone, and then I’ll lay out my thought process.

… OK, everyone calmed down?

Look, do I think the polarizing Cutler is the long-term answer for the Bills? Of course not, just like I don’t believe Taylor is. Cutler would be nothing more than a bridge to someone else, though who that might be – Cardale Jones, some rookie in this draft class, or perhaps one in the 2018 draft – is anyone’s guess.

There are no attractive alternatives for Buffalo if Doug Whaley dumps Taylor. If he is released, the only quarterback on the roster will be Jones, and he seems light years from being ready to be a full-time starter. The Bills will probably draft a quarterback, but finding a starter in this class for 2017 seems unlikely. And one glance at the free agent list reveals hopeless inadequacy, a group of stiffs that includes the likes of Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh McCown, Case Keenum, Matt Schaub, Matt McGloin, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, Blaine Gabbert, Mike Glennon, Matt Cassel … need I go on?

Jay Cutler's talent has rarely been questioned, but his attitude and lack of leadership skills has always been an issue.(Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

Soon, Cutler will be added to this list. The Bears are almost certainly going to release him, and to me, sour puss and poor leadership skills aside, he’s easily the most talented and accomplished of the bunch.

During his 11-year career, Cutler has completed 62 percent of his passes for 32,457 yards with 208 TDs and 146 interceptions. Hall of Famer Jim Kelly’s career numbers are 60.1 completion percentage, 35,467 yards, 237 TDs, 175 picks. In no way am I comparing the two – Kelly was 10 times the QB Cutler is – but I’m merely putting Cutler’s numbers into context.

Cutler still possesses a tremendous arm, he can make every throw, and maybe a change of scenery is exactly what he needs to revitalize his sagging career. And then there’s the Rick Dennison connection.

The new Bills’ offensive coordinator was in that role with Denver during Cutler’s first three years in the NFL, 2006-08. Cutler became the Broncos’ starter for the last five games of his rookie season, and he held that job for all of the next two years.

In the 2007 and 2008 seasons, the Broncos ranked 21st and 16th in points scored, and 11th and 2nd in total yards with Dennison calling plays for Cutler.

New Bills' offensive coordinator Rick Dennison was the OC in Denver during Jay Cutler's three seasons with the Broncos.(Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

The 2007 team ranked ninth in rushing with Travis Henry and Selvin Young leading the way, and Cutler threw for 3,497 yards, much of that to Brandon Marshall and Brandon Stokley. In 2008, the running game struggled, but Cutler threw for a career-high 4,526 yards and Denver had the third-best pass offense in the league as Marshall and Eddie Royal combined for 195 receptions for 2,245 yards and caught 11 of Cutler’s 25 TD passes.

Denver missed the playoffs each year and head coach Mike Shanahan was fired. Josh McDaniels took over, he didn’t want Cutler, and the team traded him to Chicago for Kyle Orton, plus Chicago’s first- and third-round picks in 2009, and the first-rounder in 2010. Denver went 8-8 and 4-12 in 2009 and 2010 with Orton and McDaniels; Chicago with Cutler went 7-9 and then 11-5.

The Bills have a solid offensive line; they have one of the best 1-2 running back duos in the league in LeSean McCoy and Mike Gillislee; and they have Sammy Watkins (if he can ever stay healthy). There’s no reason to think Cutler couldn’t be productive in this offense, especially if the Bills upgrade the depth at receiver, and get some help from their defense.

Given the Bills’ situation, they aren’t going to do better than Cutler in 2017 should Taylor be sent packing.

Taking my shots

► There was a story on NFL.com this week where one of the editors offered up 30 players who could be surprise cuts this off-season, and McCoy made the list. The reason given is that McCoy would be an “awkward” fit in Dennison’s one-cut running attack. Once again with the football mumbo-jumbo. McCoy is a fit in any system because he’s an outstanding back, end of story. Now, if finances are the issue, that’s more believable. If McCoy is designated as a post-June 1 cut, the Bills could get $6.25 million in cap relief, but the Bills would be crazy to cut McCoy this year; he was their best player in 2016, by a long shot.

► I’m not a big fan of Jim Kelly’s nephew, Chad Kelly. I think he’s overrated as a pro prospect (partly because of his last name), and his off-the-field behavior would prevent me – if I was running an NFL franchise – from picking him in the upcoming draft. But I also think it was pretty ridiculous that the NFL rescinded the invitation it offered Kelly to attend the scouting combine in Indianapolis.

This is a kid who really could have benefited from going to Indy so that he could get in front of team executives and try to rehabilitate his tattered image. Also, teams could have gotten the lowdown on his health – he’s sidelined now by a torn ACL and wouldn’t have been able to go through drills in Indy. People make a big deal about the silly drills at the combine, but the truth is that teams value medical and personal information far more than they do three-cone times, and I would think some teams would have appreciated the chance to meet with Kelly to gauge his draftability.

Claude Julien wasn't out of work long. He was fired by the Bruins, and quickly hired by the Canadiens.(Photo: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)

► If we ever needed an example of how much coaching in pro sports is a cut-throat business, the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens offered a couple the last two weeks. The Canadiens are in first place in the NHL’s Atlantic Division, yet they dumped Michel Therrien and replaced him with Claude Julien, who had just been fired by the second-place Bruins.

Julien had taken Boston to the playoffs his first seven years and won the Stanley Cup in 2011, and while the Bruins missed the tournament the last two years, they earned 96 and 93 points, totals the Sabres would have died for. Yet he gets fired, and once he was available, the Canadiens pounced, even though Therrien had a record of 194-121-37 in 4 ½ years. Shaking my head at both these teams.

If it were up to me …

The NHL would increase the size of the net, because it’s the only way the league is going to increase scoring. There are far too many nights in the NHL where scores look like something you’d see in the Premier League (yes, that’s soccer). Goaltenders have never been bigger, they’ve certainly never been better, and look at the equipment they wear. So if the guys protecting the net now cover so much more of it, it just makes sense that the net should change with the times and be bigger. I’d suggest leaving the height alone, and widening the posts by six inches – roughly the size of a puck on each side – and let’s see where that takes things.

Since save percentage became an official NHL statistic in 1983-84, it’s pretty clear how much better goaltending has become. In that first season, the average save percentage for goalies in the league was .873, and their combined goals-against average was 3.83. To date this season, the save percentage is .912, and the GAA is 2.62. That’s an incredible difference.

In the expansion era, which began in 1967, the highest scoring season in the NHL was 1981-82 when Wayne Gretzky was emerging, the goaltenders weren’t behemoths, and there were an average of 8.02 combined goals per game. It has been in almost continuous decline since (there have been a couple of upticks) and it’s down to about 5.48 goals this season. The all-time low was 5.13 goals in 2002-03.

So far this season, NHL teams have allowed just 2.49 goals against per game, which is currently tied for the second lowest league-wide GAA since the 1955-56 NHL season when teams gave up the same amount (2.49). Can a 1-0 or 2-1 game be exciting? Sure, but do we really need to see three or four or even more of those per night? I would hope you’d answer a resounding no.

This week in baseball

Though it would pale in comparison to the work stoppage in 1994 that cancelled the World Series and the first month of the 1995 season, Major League Baseball owners locked the players out on Feb 15, 1990, because there was no new Basic Agreement in place. The lockout would last 32 days, and it delayed the start of the regular season by a week.

While all that was going on, two days later on Feb. 17, 1990, Herb Raybourn, the New York Yankees director of Latin American operations, signed a 20-year-old amateur free-agent pitcher named Mariano Rivera to a $3,000 contract. That would turn out to be a pretty good investment as Rivera went on to become the greatest relief pitcher in history with a record 652 saves while helping the Yankees win five world championships.

Here's the first in my Major League Baseball series: 10 questions for each division. First up, the AL East.

The numbers game

Courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau

► The last we saw 18-year-old Winnipeg Jets rookie Patrik Laine in Buffalo, he was lying half-unconscious on the ice at KeyBank Center after a punishing body check by Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe. Laine missed a few games, but he’s back now, and he scored his third hat the other night, thus becoming the first player in NHL history to register three before his 19th birthday. He’s also the first rookie of any age with at least three in one season since another Jet, Teemu Selanne, had five in 1992-93.

► Sabres goalie Robin Lehner can be maddeningly inconsistent, but not when he’s playing his old team, the Senators. He has now played eight games against Ottawa and he has allowed just nine goals with a record of 4-0-2 (he had two no decisions due to injury).

► The Denver Nuggets discovered the secret to beating the Golden State Warriors the other night: Make 3-pointers. Denver tied an NBA single-game record by hitting 24 from beyond the arc (incredible considering it came on “just” 40 attempts) in a 132-110 blowout. It also helped the Nuggets that Stephen Curry made only one of his 11 3-point attempts.